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(11) | EP 0 240 112 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Cartridge for an inked ribbon with a re-inking device |
| (57) re-inking device (11) is fitted to a cartridge (12) for an inked ribbon (29). The
cartridge comprises a magazine (31) housing the ribbon (29) which is of the closed
loop type and which is disposed in randomly distributed loops, and a pair of rollers
(39) for the unidirectional feed movement of the ribbon (29). The re-inking device
(11) comprises an ink reservoir or inker (71), an ink metering wick (72) and a spring
(73). The pair of rollers (39) comprises two toothed wheels (78) and (79) and the
inker (71) is disposed in a housing (76) adjacent to the wheels (78) and (79). The
ink metering wick (72) comprises a bundle of capillary fibres and is disposed between
the inker (71) and the wheel (79). The spring (73) presses on the metering wick (72)
to hold the fibres at one end in constant contact with the outside surface of the
wheel (79). The crests of the teeth of the wheels (78) and (79) are of a rounded section
and the inker (71) is of a parallelepipedic shape, is of polyester fibres with external
co-extrusion and contains an amount of ink such as to occupy only half the volume
of the inker (71). The metering wick (72) is cylindrical and is of a longitudinal
section of rhomboidal shape. The bunch of capillary filaments is formed by fibres
olf elasticised nylon impregnated with phenol resin. The ends of the capillary filaments
co-operate with the rounded crests of the teeth of the wheel (79) and the spring (73)
acts upon the side surface of the capillary filaments to hold the ends of the filaments
and the teeth of the wheel (79) in constant contact. |
[0001] The present invention relates to cartridges for an inked ribbon with a re-inking device, of the type having a magazine for housing the inked ribbon of the closed loop type disposed in randomly distributed loops, and a pair of rollers for the feed movement of the inked ribbon, and in which the re-inking device comprises an inker and an ink metering means.
[0002] In a known cartridge of that type, the metering means is a felt member or a blade member in contact with the roller for producing the feed movement. The felt metering member is partially housed in an inker and a spring urges the inker with the metering means thereof against the feed movement roller. The re-inking device suffers from the disadvantage of being of relatively high cost due to the need for assembling the inker with the metering means thereof. In addition both the felt member and the blade member do not ensure optimised constancy in respect of the feed flow and run of the ink and thus make re-inking of the ribbon difficult.
[0003] The object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost re-inking device which is simple, reliable and which at the same time is functional and practical.
[0004] To that end, the re-inking deviced for cartridges according to the invention is characterised in .the manner set forth in claim 1.
[0005] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is set forth in the following description which is given by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a plan view of part of a first cartridge with the re-inking device according to the invention,
Figure 2 is a plan view of part of a second cartridge using the re-inking device of Figure 1, on an enlarged scale,
Figure 3 is a front view of part of the arrangement shown in Figure 1 on an enlarged scale, illustrating a detail thereof,
Figure 4 is a front view of part of the arrangement shown in Figure 1 on an enlarged scale, showing another detail thereof, and
Figure 5 is a plan view of part of sane details from Figures 1 and 2 on an enlarged scale.
[0006] The re-inking device which is generally indicated by reference numeral 11 is used by way of example in a cartridge 12 (see Figure 1) and a cartridge 13 (see Figure 2). Since the two cartridges 12 and 13 are not subject-matter of the present invention, they are only partly described herein in order better to specify use of the re-inking device 11. In particular the cartridge 12 (see Figure 1) comprises a casing 16 of a substantially parallelepipedic elongate shape with the corners thereof connected and rounded. The casing 16 comprises a bottom 17, a front wall 18, a rear wall 19, two side walls, namely a right-hand side wall 21 and a left-hand side wall 22, and a cover 23 which closes the casing 16 upwardly.
[0007] The cartridge 12 has two arms 24 and 26 which project from the rear wall 19 and which each have an opening 27 and 28 respectively to permit a portion of inked ribbon 29 to be passed and guided therethrough. The inked ribbon 29 is of the closed loop type and is disposed in randomly distributed turns in a magazine 31 in the casing 16. The magazine 31 has an exit 32 for the inked ribbon 29 to pass therethrough. The ribbon 29 is pinched between a fixed pin portion 33 and a resilient blade member 34 to prevent more turns of ribbon from coming out of the magazine and to tension the ribbon 29. The ribbon 29 then passes into the opening 27, caning out of the casing 16, and re-enters by way of the opening 28 and, being guided by fixed pin portions 36, 37 and 38, is engaged by a pair of rollers which are generally indicated by reference numeral 39, for the unidirectional feed movement, and is then passed into the magazine 31 again.
[0008] The cartridge 13 (see Figure 2) comprises a casing 41 formed by a bottom 42 and a series of internal walls 43, 44 and 46 defining a space or cavity 47. The casing 41 is closed upwardly by a cover 48, a rear wall 49, a front wall 51 and a right-hand side wall 52 and a left-hand side wall 53.
[0009] The cartridge 13 comprises two suitably shaped arms 56 and 57 which project from the rear wall 49 and which at their ends have two openings 58 and 59 respectively to permit a portion of the inked ribbon 29 to be passed therethrough and guided m the exterior of the cartridge. The inked ribbon 29 is the same as that in the cartridge 12 (Figure 1), is of the closed loop type and is disposed in randomly distributed turns in a magazine 61 (see Figure 2) in the casing 41. The inked ribbon 29 issues from the magazine 61, and is then gripped between a fixed wall 62 and a resilient blade member 63 for preventing more turns from caning out of the magazine and for tensioning the ribbon 29. The ribbon 29 then passes into the opening 58, leaving the casing 41, and re-enters by way of the opening 59 and, guided by fixed pin portions 64 and 66, is engaged by the pair of rollers generally indicated by reference numeral 39 for the unidirectional feed movement and is then passed into the magazine 61 again.
[0010] To simplify the description, identical parts of the two cartridges 12 and 13 are denoted by the same reference numerals: re-inking device 11, inked ribbon 29 and pair of feed rollers 39.
[0011] Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the re-inking device 11 comprises a reservoir for the ink or inker 71, an ink metering means 72 and a spring 73. The inker 71 is of a parallelepipedic shape of rectangular section with rounded edges, is of a material comprising polyester fibres with external co-extrusion and is capable of containing ink 74 (see Figure 4) in such an amount that the ink 74 occupies only half the volume of the inker 71. The inker 71 is housed in a seat 76 in the casings 16 (Figure 1) and 41 (Figure 2). The ink metering means 72 is substantially cylindrical and its longitudinal section is of rhomboidal shape while its cross-section is circular (see Figure 3). It is formed by a rigid bunch of capillary filaments of elasticated nylon fibres. The fibres are slightly impregnated with a phenol resin which however leaves capillary spaces between the filaments such as to provide for capillary flow of the ink 74 therethrough. The number of filaments contained in the rigid bunch of capillary filaments is of a predetermined density such as to provide a level of permeability such as to optimise the amount and flow of the ink 74 from the inker 71 to the pair of rollers 39. The spring 73 is fitted between a seat 77 of the casings 16 (Figure 1) and 41 (Figure 2) and the outside longitudinal edge of the inker 72.
[0012] The pair of feed rollers 39 (see Figures 1 and 2) comprises two toothed wheels 78 and 79 in which the addenda of the teeth are of rounded section. The spring 73 holds the ends of the filaments of the ink metering means 72 always in engagement with the outside surface of the teeth of the toothed wheel 79 and thus the ink 74 is deposited on the outside surface of the teeth and during the rotary movement of the wheels 78 and 79 (see Figure 5), besides causing unidirectional feed movement of the ribbon 29, the wheel 79 transfers the ink 74 which is on the outside rounded surface of the teeth, as can be clearly seen from Figure 5. The mode of operation and the rotary movement of the feed rollers 39 are substantially the same as those described in our British patent specification GB 1595447.
1. A cartridge for an inked ribbon with a re-inking device, comprising a magazine
(31, 61) for housing the ribbon (29) and a pair of rollers (39) for the feed movement
of the ribbon, and in which the re-inking device comprises an ink reservoir (71) and
an ink metering means (72) for transferring ink from the reservoir to one of the rollers
(79), characterised in that the metering means (71) comprises a substantially rigid
bunch of capillary fibres having permeable ends and cross-sections, and in which a
first end is inserted into the reservoir (31, 61) and a second end is urged by resilient
means (73) into contact with the said one roller (79) for capillary flow of the ink
from the reservoir to this roller.
2. A cartridge according to claim 1, characterised in that the rollers (39) are toothed
wheels of which the teeth have rounded crests.
3. A cartridge according to claim 1, or 2, characterised in that the bunch (71) of
capillary fibres comprises elasticated nylon fibres.
4. A cartridge according to claim 3, characterised-in that the nylon fibres are impregnated
with phenol resin, which leaves capillary spaces between the filaments for the capillary
transmission of the ink.
5. A cartridge according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the
said second end of the bunch (72) of fibres is a bevelled end.
6. A cartridge according to claim 5, characterised in that the resilient means (73)
act on the side surface of the bunch (72) of fibres adjacent to the bevelled end.
7. A cartridge according to claim 5 or 6, characterised in that the bunch (72) of
capillary fibres has a longitudinal section of rhomboidal shape.
8. A cartridge according to claim 5, 6 or 7, characterised in that the reservoir (71)
is of substantially parallepipedic shape and is made of polyester fibres with external
co-extrusion, in which the external co-extrusion has an open end, in which also the
first end of the bunch (72) of fibres is bevelled and in which the first end is inserted
between the fibres of the container by way of the open end of the co-extrusion to
hold the fibres of the reservoir in contact with the fibres of the said bunch.
9. A cartridge according to claim 2 or any of claims 3 to 8 insofar as dependent thereon,
characterised in that the resilient means (73) comprise a spring which holds the ends
of the capillary fibres against the rounded ends of the teeth of the one roller (79).
10. A cartridge according to claim 9, characterised in that the reservoir (71) is
disposed in a first housing (76) adjacent to the two rollers (39) and to the spring
(73) is contained in a second housing (77) adjacent to the first housing.
11. A cartridge according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the
number of filaments contained in the bunch (72) is of a predetermined density so as
to provide a degree of permeability such as to optimise the amount and the flow of
the ink from the reservoir (31,36) to the one roller (79).
12. A cartridge according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the
ribbon (29) is of the closed loop type and is disposed in randomly distributed loops.